Still Here

Hmmmmm.
Test post and all that.
To see if this thing still works.
To see if my mind still works.
I'm a week and a day short of being 62 and a half.
I still live in Texas.
Getting older gets worse with time.
So does living in Texas.
Floods and an even crazier governor.
I'm rereading Agatha Christie and John D, McDonald again.
They get better with time.
And so do orange cats.

Three Wishes

Earlier today on Twitter @invisiblepeople asked "If you could have three wishes what would they be?"

That's hard to answer in 140 characters so here's my answer as brief as I could make it.

• I'd wish for economic security. Nothing lavish, just knowing I won't be evicted next month if money stops coming in. Having a full pantry and fridge. Paying utility bills on time and not thinking twice about turning up the heat. Being able to put a dollar or two in the collection plate without it meaning the peanut butter sandwiches are gonna be skimpy this week. Buying something just for fun. (And, yes, I'd wish this for everyone else too.)
• Good health. I thought about putting this in the first wish but money and good insurance don't always guarantee decent health care. Fix the medical system, and while we're at it, fix schools, politics, legal system, and physical infrastructure. Fix all the things!
• I have many good friends in real life and on the internet and usually think I enjoy being single, but there are times I wish there was a special person in my life. Not necessarily marriage, or even a serious committment,  just a little romance and fun and all that mushy stuff I pretend to hate, especially around Valentine's Day. (Again, hope everybody finds a little love if that's what you want.)

That's it. Thanks for asking. I'll DM you my address so you'll know where to send the genie with the magic lamp.

Rexi (aka @rexi44)

Some Brains

"That's where cats have the advantage...

over human beings," said Mr. Baldock. "When they want to get away from people they can climb a tree. The nearest we can get to that is to shut ourselves in the lavatory." ~ Agatha Christie, The Burden

"'Well, I've got it here somewhere.'...

Mrs. Lawton looked round herself with the vague expression of the habitually untidy." ~ Agatha Christie, The Clocks

"It was a small dingy bookshop...

in a side street not far from the British Museum. It had the usual trays of books outside..... I sidled through the doorway. It was necessary to sidle, since precariously arranged books impinged more and more every day on the passageway from the street. Inside, it was clear that the books owned the shop rather than the other way about. Everywhere they had run wild and taken possession of their habitat, breeding and multiplying and clearly lacking any strong hand to keep them down. The distance between bookshelves was so narrow that you could only get along with great difficulty. There were piles of books perched on every shelf or table. On a stool in a corner, hemmed in by books, was an old man in a pork-pie hat with a large flat face like a stuffed fish. He had the air of one who has given up an unequal struggle. He had attempted to master the books, but the books had obviously succeeded in mastering him. He was a kind of King Canute of the book world, retreating before the advancing book tide. If he ordered it to retreat, it would have been with the sure and hopeless certainty that it would not do so. This was Mr. Solomon, proprietor of the shop." ~ Agatha Christie, The Clocks

"The orange cat...

was still sitting on the gatepost of Diana Lodge next door. He was no longer washing his face but was sitting up very straight, lashing his tail slightly, and gazing over the heads of the crowd with that complete disdain for the human race that is the special prerogative of cats and camels." ~ Agatha Christie, The Clocks